Printing devices such as printers, copiers, and facsimile machines, have replaceable components with limited life cycles during which the components are functional. When a component's life cycle ends, the component must be replaced. Examples of replaceable printing device components, often referred to as consumables, include paper, toner cartridges, ink cartridges, ribbon cartridges, fusers, photoconductors, drums, intermediate transfer belts, and the like. Consumables such as paper, toner and ink are consumed with each printed page because they make up the printed product. Other consumables such as fusers, photoconductors, and transfer drums or belts, are consumed with each page printed due to deterioration.
These latter consumable types are very sensitive and can be easily damaged through the general handling environment encountered, for example, while being handled during insertion into the printing device. In order to protect these consumables, they are generally enclosed within a cartridge or protective housing. However, their sensitive elements must be exposable to the external environment during the printing process so that they can accept and transfer image information or otherwise fulfill their function as designed within the printing process.
Therefore, the protective housing or cartridge which shields such consumables typically includes a gap through which the sensitive consumable element can be exposed. In order to limit this exposure, a movable protective mechanism such as a shutter is designed to cover the gap during times when the consumable item is not inserted within the printing device. Thus, while the cartridge containing the consumable is outside of the printing device, the protective shutter remains closed. When the cartridge is inserted into the printing device, a mechanism acts to open the shutter, exposing the sensitive consumable element in preparation for the printing process to begin.
Although this method of protecting consumable components works fairly well, the additional material and design costs associated with such shutter mechanisms increases the price consumers must pay to replace the consumable components. Thus, the cost of consumable components significantly increases the overall cost of ownership for printing devices. The use of shutter mechanisms to protect the sensitive consumable components serves to further increase the overall cost of ownership for various printing devices.
Accordingly, the need exists for a cost effective way of protecting sensitive consumable printing elements from harmful exposure in a general handling environment, while permitting the exposure of such elements as necessary to achieve their designed functionality in a printing process environment.